Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Blizzard

The Vikings signed defensive back Karl Paymah, who "likely will compete with Benny Sapp for a job in the nickel defense and will be counted on to help a special-teams unit that gave up an NFL-record seven touchdowns last season" (Star Tribune).

The Pioneer Press is mocking me by referring to Jay Cutler as "potential Vikings QB" in headlines (here and here). Hello newspaper--there's "potential" that you won't disappear within a decade.

Pete Prisco's mock draft: Alex Mack (this is the sort of thing a writer can justify printing and sound intelligent: "Team A lost a starter at Position B, so they could fill that with a draft pick at Position B." If the Vikings draft a center in the first round, I will take whatever beverage I am drinking at the moment and pour it directly over my head).

Pettigrew’s not the fastest or most athletic at his position, but he sure can bury an outside-linebacker or defensive end. He catches everything thrown at him, and college safeties have a really hard time bringing him down by themselves. Kleinsasser, though now the longest-tenured Viking and an absolute beast, has never been a serious aerial threat. Shiancoe began to develop as a threat late this past season, but has yet to really live up to his contract of a couple offseasons ago. Garrett Mills has always intrigued me, but he’s small enough that he gets pushed around by larger defensive ends; he’s much better suited to an H-back sort of role. Pettigrew, on the other hand, would give linebackers and safeties something to worry about other than Adrian Peterson, who would also benefit from the rookie tight-end’s crushing blocks.

If he’s available when the Vikes are on the clock, Pettigrew should be in Purple.

I'd been championing the notion of drafting an O-lineman even before Birk left (though I assumed he would). We should go after a tackle, like Mack or Unger, so we can have Sullivan, Cook, and the new guy compete for the C/RT jobs.

But nobody drafts a center in the first round, unless he's really good or they're really desperate.